6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 370 buildings. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1805.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Enfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Enfield is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Enfield’s overall grade.
North Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical North Carolina town has 12.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Enfield’s 1,756 sits above most of its state (100% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 378 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1740.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Enfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The small rural town was site of the Enfield Riots, which helped spark American independence. The Crown governed the area, and Robert Earl Granville, heir of John Lord Carteret, possessed land rights in the district. The riots were set off by a controversy over corrupt agents, land grants, titles, and the collection of quit rents (which often ended up in Granville’s pocket). A group of Colonists — many of them land owners and office holders from Halifax, Edgecombe, and Granville counties — went to Edenton on the night of January 25, 1759, and kidnapped Francis Corbin and a co-agent, Joshua Bodley. Corbin and Bodley were brought to Enfield, where they were thrown in jail for four days and forced to open all land records for public inspection. Corbin returned illegal fees he had collected, but he filed a lawsuit against his abductors after his release.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Enfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Enfield sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Enfield.
Every building
Enfield, building by building, 1900–1921
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1900Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewHABS NC,42-ENFI.V,1- (sheet 1 of 20) - Cedar Grove, Scotland Neck Road, 1933
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Enfield’s page.
In 1740, according to Wikidata. Enfield’s post office opened in 1805, and the census of 1880 counted 504 people here.
How does Enfield rank for history?
Enfield is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Enfield?
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Shell Castle (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Enfield Historic District, with 370 contributing buildings. 378 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Enfield?
11% of Enfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1964.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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